


Give Me Thunder, Give Me Lightning

by StorySongs



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 13:23:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11806848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StorySongs/pseuds/StorySongs
Summary: Not all romances are based in magic and unstoppable forces of nature... but some are.





	Give Me Thunder, Give Me Lightning

There was wind shaking their house, lightning crashing to the earth, pouring rain; and in the middle of it all, there was an even brighter flash as a loose-robed figure danced with his sword in the storm. King Sinbad was soaked to the bone; his long hair was plastered to his face and swung limply behind him, and if she’d been closer Ellei thought she would hear his boots squelch. That wasn’t important, though.

Because the King was _dancing._

He moved like the storm itself, slow and coiling one moment, leaping from rooftop to rooftop the next, and even from here Ellei could hear him laughing. It was beautiful, enticing…

“Ellei, what in the _world_ do you think you’re doing?!”

Her mother’s voice and hand on her collar, yanking her away from the door, pulled her back to reality.

“Wanna go play!” She pointed outside, and her mother’s face turned from horrified to exasperated.

“It’s _storming,_ Ellei. See?” Ellei pouted with as much gravity as a seven-year-old could, crossing her arms.

“The king is doing it!”

“The king?...” Her mother looked out the open doorway, then stood back and sighed the same way she had when Daddy came home with another three legged cat. She knelt down in front of her daughter.

“Honey, the King is a wonderful person, but you can’t forget he can do a lot of things you and I just can’t. It wouldn’t be safe for you to go play in the storm with the King. He doesn’t get hurt if he’s hit by lightning; you would. Now, why don’t you come help me with dinner?”

With one last lingering look at the doorway, Ellei sighed and went to chop vegetables with her mother.

* * *

The storm ended by the time Daddy came home and dinner was served, leaving water dripping from the eaves and Hops the three-legged tom purring in a patch of sunlight.

Ellei stared at her plate, morosely pushing her stew around with a piece of bread.

“You’re quiet tonight, sweetheart. Is everything alright?” She stared at her bread, then the trickling water outside.

“Daddy, can I take dance lessons?”

* * *

Dance was tough to master, and she toiled for many hours under the eye of Master Laud. He was demanding and rough, but whenever Ellei thought about quitting she thought of King Sinbad in the storm and persevered.

Six years passed. No matter how much she practiced, how fluid her movements were, something in her dance just didn’t match her memories of the King. They were always… flashier…

Blinking with sudden realization she shook herself back to reality, focusing on the littler girls Master Laud had asked her to tutor.

* * *

The next morning she snuck away after her lessons, down to the district where the Guards gathered. She hovered awkwardly on the edges of the practice grounds and watched the flying metal, chewing anxiously on her lip. A voice from behind her nearly scared her out of her skin.

“Well, you’re a new face. What’re you doing here, kid?” The older woman wore a guard’s uniform, but Ellei couldn’t really tell the rank; she had a scarred face but a kindly eye, and Ellei blurted out her plan before she thought.

“I want to learn how to use a sword.” The woman’s brow rose and she stared at Ellei for a moment.

“Why?”

Well, best to be honest?

“When I was a little kid I saw the King dancing with a sword. It was beautiful and I want to be just like him.” She brandished her small supply of coins with a determined scowl. The woman just looked at them, then nodded with a slow smile.

“Hey, Hemun! You up for training another newbie?”

* * *

Between swordwork and dancing Ellei fell into bed exhausted each and every night. She might not know how to handle the blade but even experienced swordsmen complimented her footwork. She found herself teaching her teachers a few moves, glowing in their unexpected respect.

 She tutored even more dancing students to earn enough money to pay for her own practice sword; only an unsharpened piece of subpar metal, but it held its shape and had a comforting weight and balance. It was good enough.

Now her work shone like the King’s performance, and even if her blade had no edge she felt exhilarated and powerful when she danced with it. But the sun still blinded her and there was no drumroll of thunder to accompany her; she still had work to do.

* * *

Ellei scuffed through the twilight, kicking a rock down an alleyway morosely; her dinner sat uneasily in her stomach, roiling after the argument she’d just stormed out of.

“Marriage is stupid.” She muttered to the rock. An alley cat gave her a disdainful look then slunk off into the shadows.

In her heart she knew she didn’t mean it; marriage was just fine, as an idea, and she knew that at the age of twenty she was dangerously close to spinster status. It was just that every man she’d been introduced to had been a merchant, and they had collectively had as much personality as a brick. There was nothing wrong with them, they’d probably be just fine as husbands… but they would never understand what drove her to dance and the sword, never try to match her in a storm.

A muffled yelp down in an alley drew her attention, and she grasped for her sword’s hilt. Sindria was a safe country, but every city had its share of ruffians and those down on their luck; this might be a ruse.

She crept to the mouth of the alley and peered down it; it was hard to see in the gathering dusk, but it looked like two men were roughly going through the bags of a younger man. The victim was struggling, but weakly, held by the larger of the thugs. She saw blood soaking through blond hair and made her move; surprise counted for a lot, especially when your blade didn’t actually have an edge.

The thug holding the victim went down with a meaty _thwack_ as her sword met his skull. She hoped she hadn’t hit him hard enough to kill him; he twitched sluggishly where he lay. The blonde yelped and staggered to try and keep his balance, but went down with another noise of shock.

The man with the bags managed to recover himself somewhat by the time she turned to him, and he had a club. She swallowed hard before lunging forward, trying to strike his hand and make him drop the weapon.

She was at a serious disadvantage in an actual fight; for one, her blade had no edge and it was obvious to her opponent. For another, all her years of bladework had mostly been focused on _performances_ , not fights. Stage fighting was a world away from do-or-die combat, and her inexperience showed.

Her weapon was knocked from her hand and she flinched back, internally swearing. The thug raised his club to clobber her over the head-

The alley lit up like a blue high noon. All the hairs on her head and arms raised up and she flinched back as the thug fell back, twitching. _Lightning…?_

“Careful- don’t move-“ the young man she’d intervened to save gasped where he’d staggered to his feet. “Lightnin’s still in the ground, might hurt ‘y if ‘y step.” He slurred, wiping at his bloody forehead with a shaking hand. “I’ve go’ wood shoes, stay still-“ She barely protested as he picked her up and carried her out to the mouth of the alley before setting her down. She sank down to the ground, shaking as her actions caught up with her, and the man sank down beside her with a groan.

They sat in silence for a second getting their breathing under control.

“Thanks. For saving me, and all.” The man said, sounding much more coherent. “He had my hands pinned so I couldn’t reach my wand, and I wasn’t strong enough to get away.” He held out his non-bloody hand to her with a sheepish grin. “My name’s Coren. What’s yours?”

“Ellei.” She shook his hand, starting to giggle helplessly despite herself. “And I did a pretty poor job of saving you, so you don’t have to thank me.” Coren’s green eyes went wide.

“What? You were incredible and brave, what’re you talking about?” She scoffed.

“Oh, please, I was stupid and lucky. Everything I know is for stage fighting. I would’ve been dead if you hadn’t gotten that second man.” His wide eyes said he didn’t believe her, but they were interrupted by the arrival of two guardsmen. One of them recognized her.

“Ellei! What in the world are you doing out this time of night? And who’s this? What’s going on?” he raised his lantern and stared in surprise at the two downed men at the alley.

The explanations took up the rest of the evening, and then the officers delivered her to her worried parents; she wouldn’t be leaving the house unescorted for the foreseeable future.

She had thought that would be the end of it, so when Coren showed up at her door a few days later with a handful of flowers and a basket of bread- well. ‘Surprised’ would be an understatement… and so would ‘pleased’.

“I wanted to make sure you were doing alright, and that you hadn’t gotten in too much trouble.” Coren explained, sheepishly scratching his head as they sat on the bench outside her family’s front door.

“Everyone was mostly just glad I wasn’t hurt, thank goodness. But… they didn’t let me go get my sword until yesterday, and by then it was gone. ” She said. “Did you get in any trouble?”

“No, just a reminder to be responsible using my magic within the country, and a few tips on where _not_ to go if I don’t want to get in a situation like that again.” He looked ruefully amused, and she couldn’t stop the flutter in her chest at his little laugh. She always liked people who could laugh at themselves.

“That’s good. Your magic was cool, I’d hate it if you couldn’t do it anymore!” As soon as it left her mouth she wanted to smack herself. Cool? Really, that was the best word she could come up with? Smooth, Ellei…

“Really? It’s nothing major, just a little lightning magic…” He twisted his fingers, smiling and blushing a little.

“I’ve always liked lightning.” She blurted, and soon her cheeks were as red as his. She plowed on through the story anyways. “When I was little, I saw King Sinbad dancing in a storm. It’s why I practice dancing and swordplay. I want to do what he did… but it’s too dangerous for me to be out in a lightning storm. So I just watch it instead."

“Really? That’s… really cool.” A moment of awkward silence.

Coren suddenly stood up, bowing to her.

“Is it okay if I come back to visit you sometime?” He asked, blushing and looking more at the ground than at her. She couldn’t stop the smile that came to her face.

“I’d like that!” _I’d like that a lot,_ she thankfully managed to keep behind her teeth this time.

“Okay, I’ll be back! I promise.” He began to hurry away, moving with purpose through the crowd. She sat and watched him go, her heart in her throat.

* * *

Of course, as soon as he left the doubts began to seep in.

“Mom, there’s no way he likes me! I was so awkward, I felt like a kid again.” She groaned as she laid face-first on her bed. Her mother, gamely trying not to laugh, was stroking her hair.

“Well, kids are usually better at making friends than us silly adults are, so maybe that’s a good thing!” Ellei snorted inelegantly.

“Mom, don’t be ridiculous. He left as soon as he could, and he probably won’t be coming back.” Her mother just laughed.

“I bet you’ll be married in a month.” Ellei shot up from her bed, her face bright red.

“ _Mother!”_

“Nah, I’d give it two weeks.” Her father chimed in from the main room, and she collapsed back on her bed with a noise not unlike a dying sea monster.

“ _DAD!”_

* * *

There was a storm rolling in over the horizon, and she was sitting near the window with her head in her hands. It had been nearly a week since Coren had come to apologize for getting her in trouble. She was convinced he wasn’t coming back at all.

“Hops, what am I going to do?” She asked the ancient tomcat sleeping on the windowsill beside her. Hops just cracked one cloudy gold eye and purred at her as she scratched his ears, crooked tail twitching in pleasure.

A delicate cough drew her attention to the street, and her head jerked up.

Coren was standing there with a bright, hopeful smile. There was a bright, shining piece of metal in his hands-

“My sword!” She gasped. Then she backpedaled. “Um, I mean, hi, Coren! What’re you doing here?” the ‘ _with my sword!’_ went unspoken.

“I brought you a gift!” The mage said, holding out her sword as she scrambled over the low windowsill. “I found your sword- one of the guard had picked it up and was waiting for you to come back to practice for it-“

“My parents were too worried to let me go-“ she blurted out, interrupting him, heart beating fast as she took the sword back. He just grinned and carried on.

“-and while I had it, I made a little adjustment to it.” He waved his wand, and strange new markings carved into the blade lit up with the gesture. “It will prevent lightning from coming within more than a couple inches of you, and also protect you from lighting in the ground if any strikes happen near you. And just in case you drop it, I made you this.” He held out a small bracelet, a simple string of beaded quartz and turquoise. “It has the same enchantments on it. Double protection, you know?” She stared at him. “Since there’s a storm rolling in, I wanted to know… could I see you dance?”

She stared at him so long his smile began to falter. A voice from the doorway startled her into action.

“Oh, go on!” Her mother shooed her with a flick of her kitchen towel. “Go and dance with the boy, since he was nice enough to bring you your sword. Don’t get into trouble now, you hear? I expect to see both of you back for dinner!”

“Yes ma’am!” they both snapped out in unison, and then they were bolting down the street to the cobbled courtyard, laughing so hard her chest hurt.

They reached the yard just as the storm began, rain pattering down to land on their skin and thunder rumbling in the downdraft. She stood, feeling the rain and the wind and the magic humming in her blade, and let it guide her.

Years of training, practicing until her muscles screamed and her skin was raw, all of that led to this moment. The rhythm of the rain pounded in time with her racing heart, and the rumble of thunder was her drumbeat, lightning flashing around her and making the blade of her sword glow. And then…

Then the lightning began to dance with her.

Her eyes went saucer-plate wide and she nearly stumbled out of rhythm as Coren joined step with her, lightning dancing along his hands and arms and making his sodden blond hair spark and flare. They were briefly out of sync… and then it clicked.

As if they had been dancing together for years they moved, step for step, swing for swing, lightning and steel and two hearts beating as one.

They only ended when the storm passed over, and by that time they were both panting heavily and soaked to the bone. Ellei’s heart was pounding in her chest and she staggered as the manic energy of the storm drained away. Coren managed to catch her as she wobbled even though he was none too steady himself, and they leaned heavily against each other to stay upright as they made their way to a stone bench in the square.

It was only then they noticed that they had an audience. People had come to the doorways leading to the courtyard to watch them dance- safely out of range of stray sparks, thankfully. One person began clapping, and then another, and suddenly applause as loud as the passing thunder filled the small space. Both she and Coren were red-cheeked as much from embarrassment as from exertion.

Finally the furor began to die down. Coins and praise were tossed their way in equal measures, and eventually they were left alone in the mist rising from the cobblestones.

Coren was the first to break the silence.

“… I’ve never felt like that before.” 

“Me neither.” She shifted a little- the sun was warm, and she felt more than a little sticky with sweat and rain. “Why did you start dancing with me?” He shrugged.

“Just felt like the right thing to do, I guess.”

They lapsed into quiet again for a long moment.

“Coren… tell me about yourself.” He blinked at her.

“Um, okay… why?” She leaned against him a little, sticky mist or no sticky mist.

“I want to know if I can stand to wait a month to marry you. I want to make my mother lose a bet.”

He was stunned for a moment, she could see it in his eyes- then he broke into loud, heartfelt laughter that had her laughing right along with him.

(Her father ended up winning the bet after all. She was happy enough to be only a little irritated.)

**Author's Note:**

> Who else likes senseless OC fluff? I'm glad. Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
